Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot (1918 - 1977)

Born 6 Jul 1918 in London, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Kathleen Rose (Humphreys) Cabot — married Jun 1941 in Marylebone, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Died 22 Aug 1977 at age 59 in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada

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Biography

Sebastian Cabot is Notable.

Sebastian Cabot was an actor, well-known for playing Mr. French on the television series Family Affair, as well as for providing voice work for many Disney animated films, including as the narrator in several Winnie the Pooh films.

Sebastian Cabot was born 6 Jul 1918, in the St. Pancras district of north London, England. He was the son of Oscar and Sophie (Brimbois) Cabot.^[1]

At age 14, his father's business failed and Sebastian was forced to leave school to work as a garage helper. He also worked as a chef - which helped precipitate his growth to 260 pounds - and spent three years as a professional wrestler, an activity ended by an injury. He was eventually hired as both a chauffeur and a valet for actor Frank Pettingell (1891-1966). He learned to speak smoothly to fit his new profession, and became acquainted with several actors. This experience also sparked his interest in acting and he soon began appearing regularly in local theatrical productions.

Sebastian made his film debut in the gambling-themed comedy film Foreign Affaires (1935), where he was an uncredited extra. His first credited role was in the Alfred Hitchcock spy film Secret Agent (1936). By 1939, however, Sebastian was still listed as a chauffer and mechanic when, at age 24, he was enumerated with his parents, his younger brother John, and his paternal grandmother at Paddington, London, England.^[2]

Sebastian married Kathleen Humphreys in April 1941, in the Marylebone district of Westminster, London, England.^[3] They had two children: Annette (b. 1941) and Christopher (b. 1943).

Sebastian's British acting career began taking off in the 1940s, with performances in such films as Love on the Dole (1941), Pimpernel Smith (1941), Old Mother Riley Overseas and Old Mother Riley Detective (both 1943) They Made Me a Fugitive (1947), Third Time Lucky (1949), and The Spider and the Fly (1949). In 1949, he co-starred as the villainous Fouracada in the British detective film Dick Barton Strikes Back, alongside actor Don Stannard as crime solver Dick Barton. On 9 Jul 1949, three days after Sebastian's 21st birthday, he and Stannard were involved in a car crash in Cookham Dean, Berkshire, England. Stannard (age 33), who was driving, was killed instantly, while Cabot escaped with only minor injuries.

In 1955, Sebastian moved his family to the United States. There, he had roles in such films as Kismet (1955), Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956), Johnny Tremain (1957), and The Time Machine (1960). Cabot appeared mostly in guest star roles in television throughout the 1960s. His first major role in the medium was that of college professor Dr. Carl Hyatt in the detective television series Checkmate (1960-1962).

Sebastian's voice acting credits started in radio, before he became a regular voice actor for the Disney studio. He voiced Sir Ector (King Arthur's adoptive father) in The Sword in the Stone (1963) and Baghreera the black panther in The Jungle Book. He was the original narrator of the Winnie the Pooh film series, serving in this role in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966), Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974), and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977).

Sebastian is perhaps best remembered for his television role as "gentleman's gentleman" Giles French, on the sitcom Family Affair (1966-1971). In 1968, Sebastian was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series".

Cabot's next significant television role was that of hotel owner Winston Essex, the host of the anthology horror television series Ghost Story (1972-1973). His last notable live-action roles were in two television films. He played Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street (1973), and appeared in The City That Forgot About Christmas (1974).

Cabot suffered a stroke in 1974, after which mostly retired for show business. He lived his final years in Deep Cove, British Columbia, a suburb of Victoria. In 1977, he was hospitalized following a second stroke. He never recovered, dying in the Victoria hospital. He was 59 years old. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.^[4][5][6]

Sources

1. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007. Ancestry.com (database online with images) Vol 1b, page 62, 1918, Q3-Jul-Aug-Sep, Charles S. T. Cabot.
2. ↑ 1939 England and Wales Register. Ancestry.com (database online with images), London, Paddington, ED Apcp, household of Oscar Charles Cabot [image 14].
3. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005. Ancestry.com (database online with images) Vol 1A, page 1299, 1941, Q2-Apr-May-Jun, Charles S. T. Cabot to Kathleen R. Humphries.
4. ↑ "British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993", database, FamilySearch ( : 8 November 2017), Charles Sebastian Thomas Cabot, 1977.
5. ↑ Obituary: [1] https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99246314/sebastian-cabot-d-22-aug-1977/
6. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 20 August 2019), memorial page for Sebastian Cabot (6 Jul 1918–22 Aug 1977), Find A Grave Memorial no. 158, citing Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave .

See Also:

• Wikipedia: Sebastian_Cabot_(actor)
• Sebastian Cabot @IMDb.com